U.S. patent number 9,204,441 [Application Number 13/799,456] was granted by the patent office on 2015-12-01 for method and apparatus for classifying femto node users.
This patent grant is currently assigned to QUALCOMM Incorporated. The grantee listed for this patent is QUALCOMM Incorporated. Invention is credited to Sumeeth Nagaraja, Chirag Sureshbhai Patel, Andrei Dragos Radulescu, Damanjit Singh, Yeliz Tokgoz, Mehmet Yavuz.
United States Patent |
9,204,441 |
Nagaraja , et al. |
December 1, 2015 |
Method and apparatus for classifying femto node users
Abstract
A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for
wireless communication are provided in connection with classifying
devices that communicate with a femto node for providing services
thereto. In one example, a node is equipped to monitor and/or
receive one or more parameters communicated by a device, assign a
classification to the device related to a frequency of using the
femto node based in part on the one or more parameters. In an
aspect, the node is equipped to provide services to the device
based on the classification. In another aspect, the node is
equipped to provide the classification to one or more femto nodes,
including the femto node, for providing services to the device.
Inventors: |
Nagaraja; Sumeeth (San Diego,
CA), Tokgoz; Yeliz (San Diego, CA), Yavuz; Mehmet
(San Diego, CA), Singh; Damanjit (San Diego, CA),
Radulescu; Andrei Dragos (San Diego, CA), Patel; Chirag
Sureshbhai (San Diego, CA) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
QUALCOMM Incorporated |
San Diego |
CA |
US |
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Assignee: |
QUALCOMM Incorporated (San
Diego, CA)
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Family
ID: |
49512443 |
Appl.
No.: |
13/799,456 |
Filed: |
March 13, 2013 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20130294264 A1 |
Nov 7, 2013 |
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Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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61641627 |
May 2, 2012 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W
16/32 (20130101); H04W 72/0453 (20130101); H04W
72/04 (20130101); H04W 72/048 (20130101); H04W
84/045 (20130101); H04W 24/02 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G01R
31/08 (20060101); H04W 72/04 (20090101); H04W
16/32 (20090101); H04W 84/04 (20090101); H04W
24/02 (20090101) |
Field of
Search: |
;370/203,204-215,229-240,310-337,338-350,351-394,395.1,395.3,395.4,395.41,395.42,395.5,395.52,431-457,458-463,464-497,498-522,521-529 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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2011100653 |
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Aug 2011 |
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WO |
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2012145713 |
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Oct 2012 |
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WO |
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Other References
International Search Report and Written
Opinion--PCT/US2013/039340--ISA/EPO--Sep. 25, 2013. cited by
applicant .
Li, et al., "User Classifying-based Hybrid Spectrum Allocation in
Two-tier OFDMA Femtocell Networks", Vehicular Technology
Conference, Sep. 2012, pp. 1-5. cited by applicant .
3GPP TS 25.413 v9.1.0, "UTRAN lu interface Radio Access Network
Application Part (RANAP) signalling (Release 9)," Dec. 18, 2009.
cited by applicant .
3GPP TS 36.413 V10.3.0, "Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access
Network (E-UTRAN); 51 Application Protocol (S1AP) (Release 10),"
Sep. 27, 2011. cited by applicant.
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Primary Examiner: Liu; Jung-Jen
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Yadegar-Bandari; Fariba
Parent Case Text
CLAIM OF PRIORITY UNDER 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119
The present Application for Patent claims priority to Provisional
Application No. 61/641,627 entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR
CLASSIFYING FEMTO NODE USERS" filed May 2, 2012, and assigned to
the assignee hereof and hereby expressly incorporated by reference
herein.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method for classifying devices that communicate with a femto
node for providing services thereto, comprising: monitoring one or
more parameters communicated by a device to the femto node;
determining a frequency of use of the femto node by the device
based at least in part on the one or more parameters; assigning a
classification to the device based on the frequency of use; and
providing the services to the device based on the classification,
wherein the device is provided with a first level of service if the
device is assigned a first classification, wherein the device is
provided with a second level of service if the device is assigned a
second classification, wherein the first level of service allows
the device to utilize a first level of transmit power if it is
determined that the frequency of use by the device is a first
frequency of use, and wherein the second level of service allows
the device to utilize a second level of transmit power, which is
less than the first level of transmit power, if it is determined
that the frequency of use by the device is a second frequency of
use, which is less than the first frequency of use.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more parameters relate
to idle-mode communications, active-mode communications, or
handover of the device.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the monitoring one or more
parameters comprises monitoring location area update or routing
area update messages from the device.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting paging
messages to the device, wherein the monitoring one or more
parameters comprises monitoring responses to the paging
messages.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the monitoring one or more
parameters comprises monitoring one or more handovers of the device
to another node, and wherein the assigning the classification is
based in part on the one or more handovers relative to one or more
registration requests from the device.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising modifying a location
area code or routing area code of the femto node, wherein the
monitoring one or more parameters comprises monitoring responses
from the device based on the modifying.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting a
measurement control message to the device requesting periodic
measurement reports, wherein the monitoring one or more parameters
comprises monitoring a number of measurement reports received from
the device.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the monitoring one or more
parameters comprises monitoring parameters related to calls of the
device at the femto node.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more parameters
comprise a frequency of call initiation or termination at the femto
node, a duration of one or more calls at the femto node, or a
frequency of inter-call initiation times at the femto node.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the monitoring one or more
parameters comprises monitoring handover of the device to the femto
node relative to handover of the device from the femto node.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the monitoring one or more
parameters comprises monitoring applications or the services of the
femto node used by the device.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the monitoring one or more
parameters comprises monitoring handover information elements
regarding the device received from a node from which the device is
handed over to the femto node.
13. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing one or
more pathloss measurements from the femto node to the device,
wherein the monitoring one or more parameters comprises monitoring
the one or more pathloss measurements over time.
14. The method of claim 13, further comprising ranking the device
among a plurality of devices based on the one or more pathloss
measurements and additional pathloss measurements of the plurality
of devices, wherein the assigning the classification is based in
part on the ranking of the device among the plurality of
devices.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein the assigning the classification
is based in part on comparing the one or more parameters to one or
more thresholds.
16. The method of claim 1, wherein the assigning the classification
is based in part on comparing the one or more parameters to similar
parameters monitored of other devices communicating with the femto
node.
17. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing the services to
the device comprises determining a transmission power or
time/frequency resource allocation for the device based on the
classification.
18. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing the services to
the device comprises determining a set of services to provide to
the device based on the classification.
19. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing the services to
the device comprises determining one or more advertisements to
provide to the device based on the classification.
20. An apparatus for classifying devices that communicate with a
femto node for providing services thereto, comprising: a processing
system configured to: monitor one or more parameters communicated
by a device to the femto node; determine a frequency of use of the
femto node by the device based at least in part on the one or more
parameters; assign a classification to the device based on the
frequency of use; and provide the services to the device based on
the classification, wherein the device is provided with a first
level of service if the device is assigned a first classification,
wherein the device is provided with a second level of service if
the device is assigned a second classification, wherein the first
level of service allows the device to utilize a first level of
transmit power if it is determined that the frequency of use by the
device is a first frequency of use, and wherein the second level of
service allows the device to utilize a second level of transmit
power, which is less than the first level of transmit power, if it
is determined that the frequency of use by the device is a second
frequency of use, which is less than the first frequency of use;
and a memory coupled to the processing system.
21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the processing system
assigns the classification based in part on comparing the one or
more parameters to a threshold or to similar parameters monitored
of other devices communicating with the femto node.
22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the processing system
provides the services to the device by determining a transmission
power or time/frequency resource allocation for the device, a set
of services to provide to the device, or one or more advertisements
to present to the device, based on the classification.
23. An apparatus for classifying devices that communicate with a
femto node for providing services thereto, comprising: means for
monitoring one or more parameters communicated by a device to the
femto node; means for determining a frequency of use of the femto
node by the device based at least in part on the one or more
parameters; means for assigning a classification to the device
based on the frequency of use; and means for providing the services
to the device based on the classification, wherein the device is
provided with a first level of service if the device is assigned a
first classification, wherein the device is provided with a second
level of service if the device is assigned a second classification,
wherein the first level of service allows the device to utilize a
first level of transmit power if it is determined that the
frequency of use by the device is a first frequency of use, and
wherein the second level of service allows the device to utilize a
second level of transmit power, which is less than the first level
of transmit power, if it is determined that the frequency of use by
the device is a second frequency of use, which is less than the
first frequency of use.
24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the means for assigning
assigns the classification based in part on comparing the one or
more parameters to a threshold or to similar parameters monitored
of other devices communicating with the femto node.
25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the means for providing
provides the services to the device by determining a transmission
power or time/frequency resource allocation for the device, a set
of services to provide to the device, or one or more advertisements
to present to the device, based on the classification.
26. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer
executable code for classifying devices that communicate with a
femto node for providing services thereto, comprising: code for
monitoring one or more parameters communicated by a device to the
femto node; code for determining a frequency of use of the femto
node by the device based at least in part on the one or more
parameters; code for assigning a classification to the device based
on the frequency of use; and code for providing the services to the
device based on the classification, wherein the device is provided
with a first level of service if the device is assigned a first
classification, wherein the device is provided with a second level
of service if the device is assigned a second classification,
wherein the first level of service allows the device to utilize a
first level of transmit power if it is determined that the
frequency of use by the device is a first frequency of use, and
wherein the second level of service allows the device to utilize a
second level of transmit power, which is less than the first level
of transmit power, if it is determined that the frequency of use by
the device is a second frequency of use, which is less than the
first frequency of use.
27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 26,
further comprising code for assigning the classification based in
part on comparing the one or more parameters to a threshold or to
similar parameters monitored of other devices communicating with
the femto node.
28. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 26,
further comprising code for providing the services to the device by
determining a transmission power or time/frequency resource
allocation for the device, a set of services to provide to the
device, or one or more advertisements to present to the device,
based on the classification.
29. A method for classifying devices that communicate with a femto
node for providing services thereto, comprising: receiving one or
more parameters communicated by a device to the femto node;
determining a frequency of use of the femto node by the device
based at least in part on the one or more parameters; assigning a
classification to the device based on the frequency of use; and
providing the classification to one or more femto nodes, including
the femto node, for providing the services to the device, wherein
the device is provided with a first level of service if the device
is assigned a first classification, wherein the device is provided
with a second level of service if the device is assigned a second
classification, wherein the first level of service allows the
device to utilize a first level of transmit power if it is
determined that the frequency of use by the device is a first
frequency of use, and wherein the second level of service allows
the device to utilize a second level of transmit power, which is
less than the first level of transmit power, if it is determined
that the frequency of use by the device is a second frequency of
use, which is less than the first frequency of use.
30. The method of claim 29, wherein the one or more parameters
relate to idle-mode communications, active-mode communications, or
handover of the device.
31. The method of claim 29, wherein the assigning includes
assigning the classification based in part on comparing the one or
more parameters to a threshold or to similar parameters monitored
of other devices communicating with the one or more femto
nodes.
32. An apparatus for classifying devices that communicate with a
femto node for providing services thereto, comprising: a processing
system configured to: receive one or more parameters communicated
by a device to the femto node; determine a frequency of use of the
femto node by the device based at least in part on the one or more
parameters; assign a classification to the device based on the
frequency of use; and provide the classification to one or more
femto nodes, including the femto node, for providing the services
to the device, wherein the device is provided with a first level of
service if the device is assigned a first classification, wherein
the device is provided with a second level of service if the device
is assigned a second classification, wherein the first level of
service allows the device to utilize a first level of transmit
power if it is determined that the frequency of use by the device
is a first frequency of use, and wherein the second level of
service allows the device to utilize a second level of transmit
power, which is less than the first level of transmit power, if it
is determined that the frequency of use by the device is a second
frequency of use, which is less than the first frequency of use;
and a memory coupled to the processing system.
33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the one or more parameters
relate to idle-mode communications, active-mode communications, or
handover of the device.
34. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the processing system
assigns the classification based in part on comparing the one or
more parameters to a threshold or to similar parameters monitored
of other devices communicating with the femto node.
35. An apparatus for classifying devices that communicate with a
femto node for providing services thereto, comprising: means for
receiving one or more parameters communicated by a device to the
femto node; means for determining a frequency of use of the femto
node by the device based at least in part on the one or more
parameters; means for assigning a classification to the device
based on the frequency of use; and means for providing the
classification to one or more femto nodes, including the femto
node, for providing the services to the device, wherein the device
is provided with a first level of service if the device is assigned
a first classification, wherein the device is provided with a
second level of service if the device is assigned a second
classification, wherein the first level of service allows the
device to utilize a first level of transmit power if it is
determined that the frequency of use by the device is a first
frequency of use, and wherein the second level of service allows
the device to utilize a second level of transmit power, which is
less than the first level of transmit power, if it is determined
that the frequency of use by the device is a second frequency of
use, which is less than the first frequency of use.
36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the one or more parameters
relate to idle-mode communications, active-mode communications, or
handover of the device.
37. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the means for assigning is
further configured to assign the classification based in part on
comparing the one or more parameters to a threshold or to similar
parameters monitored of other devices communicating with the femto
node.
38. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer
executable code for classifying devices that communicate with a
femto node for providing services thereto, comprising: code for
receiving one or more parameters communicated by a device to the
femto node; code for determining a frequency of use of the femto
node by the device based at least in part on the one or more
parameters; code for assigning a classification to the device based
on the frequency of use; and code for providing the classification
to one or more femto nodes, including the femto node, for providing
the services to the device, wherein the device is provided with a
first level of service if the device is assigned a first
classification, wherein the device is provided with a second level
of service if the device is assigned a second classification,
wherein the first level of service allows the device to utilize a
first level of transmit power if it is determined that the
frequency of use by the device is a first frequency of use, and
wherein the second level of service allows the device to utilize a
second level of transmit power, which is less than the first level
of transmit power, if it is determined that the frequency of use by
the device is a second frequency of use, which is less than the
first frequency of use.
39. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 38,
wherein the one or more parameters relate to idle-mode
communications, active-mode communications, or handover of the
device.
40. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 38,
further comprising code for assigning the classification based in
part on comparing the one or more parameters to a threshold or to
similar parameters monitored of other devices communicating with
the femto node.
41. The method of claim 1, wherein the first level of service
allows the device to utilize a first amount of resources, and the
second level of service allows the device to utilize a second
amount of resources, which is less than the first amount of
resources.
42. The method of claim 29, wherein the first level of service
allows the device to utilize a first amount of resources, and the
second level of service allows the device to utilize a second
amount of resources, which is less than the first amount of
resources.
Description
BACKGROUND
The disclosed aspects relate generally to communications between
and/or within devices and specifically to methods and systems for
classifying femto node users.
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide
various types of communication content such as, for example, voice,
data, and so on. Typical wireless communication systems may be
multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with
multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g.,
bandwidth, transmit power, . . . ). Examples of such
multiple-access systems may include code division multiple access
(CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems,
frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal
frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, and the like.
Additionally, the systems can conform to specifications such as
third generation partnership project (3GPP), 3GPP long term
evolution (LTE), ultra mobile broadband (UMB), evolution data
optimized (EV-DO), etc.
Generally, wireless multiple-access communication systems may
simultaneously support communication for multiple mobile devices.
Each mobile device may communicate with one or more base stations
via transmissions on forward and reverse links. The forward link
(or downlink) refers to the communication link from base stations
to mobile devices, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the
communication link from mobile devices to base stations. Further,
communications between mobile devices and base stations may be
established via single-input single-output (SISO) systems,
multiple-input single-output (MISO) systems, multiple-input
multiple-output (MIMO) systems, and so forth. In addition, mobile
devices can communicate with other mobile devices (and/or base
stations with other base stations) in peer-to-peer wireless network
configurations.
To supplement conventional base stations, additional low power base
stations can be deployed to provide more robust wireless coverage
to mobile devices. For example, low power base stations (e.g.,
which can be commonly referred to as Home NodeBs or Home eNBs,
collectively referred to as H(e)NBs, femto nodes, femtocell nodes,
pico nodes, micro nodes, etc.) can be deployed for incremental
capacity growth, richer user experience, in-building or other
specific geographic coverage, and/or the like. In some
configurations, such low power base stations are connected to the
Internet via broadband connection (e.g., digital subscriber line
(DSL) router, cable or other modem, etc.), which can provide the
backhaul link to the mobile operator's network. In this regard, low
power base stations are often deployed in homes, offices, etc.
without consideration of a current network environment.
Thus, improved apparatus and methods for classifying devices that
communicate with a femto node and for providing services to the
devices may be desired.
SUMMARY
The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects
in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This
summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects,
and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all
aspects nor delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole
purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a
simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that
is presented later.
In accordance with one or more aspects and corresponding disclosure
thereof, various aspects are described in connection with
classifying devices that communicate with a femto node for
providing services thereto. In one example, a node is equipped to
monitor and/or receive one or more parameters communicated by a
device, assign a classification to the device related to a
frequency of using the femto node based in part on the one or more
parameters. In an aspect, the node is equipped to provide services
to the device based on the classification. In another aspect, the
node is equipped to provide the classification to one or more femto
nodes, including the femto node, for providing services to the
device.
According to related aspects, a method for classifying devices that
communicate with a femto node for providing services thereto is
provided. The method can include monitoring one or more parameters
communicated by a device to a femto node. Further, the method can
include assigning a classification to the device related to a
frequency of using the femto node based in part on the one or more
parameters. Moreover, the method may include providing services to
the device based on the classification.
Another aspect relates to a communications apparatus enabled to
classify devices that communicate with a femto node for providing
services thereto. The communications apparatus can include means
for monitoring one or more parameters communicated by a device to a
femto node. Further, the communications apparatus can include means
for assigning a classification to the device related to a frequency
of using the femto node based in part on the one or more
parameters. Moreover, the communications apparatus can include
means for providing services to the device based on the
classification.
Another aspect relates to a communications apparatus. The apparatus
can include a processing system configured to monitor one or more
parameters communicated by a device to a femto node. Further, the
processing system may be configured to assign a classification to
the device related to a frequency of using the femto node based in
part on the one or more parameters. Moreover, the processing system
may further be configured to provide services to the device based
on the classification.
Still another aspect relates to a computer program product, which
can have a computer-readable medium including code for monitoring
one or more parameters communicated by a device to a femto node.
Further, the computer-readable medium may include code for
assigning a classification to the device related to a frequency of
using the femto node based in part on the one or more parameters.
Moreover, the computer-readable medium can include code for
providing services to the device based on the classification.
According to related aspects, a method for classifying devices that
communicate with a femto node for providing services thereto is
provided. The method can include receiving one or more parameters
communicated by a device to a femto node. Further, the method can
include assigning a classification to the device related to a
frequency of using the femto node based in part on the one or more
parameters. Moreover, the method may include providing the
classification to one or more femto nodes, including the femto
node, for providing services to the device.
Another aspect relates to a communications apparatus enabled to
classify devices that communicate with a femto node for providing
services thereto. The communications apparatus can include means
for receiving one or more parameters communicated by a device to a
femto node. Further, the communications apparatus can include means
for assigning a classification to the device related to a frequency
of using the femto node based in part on the one or more
parameters. Moreover, the communications apparatus can include
means for providing the classification to one or more femto nodes,
including the femto node, for providing services to the device.
Another aspect relates to a communications apparatus. The apparatus
can include a processing system configured to receive one or more
parameters communicated by a device to a femto node. Further, the
processing system may be configured to assign a classification to
the device related to a frequency of using the femto node based in
part on the one or more parameters. Moreover, the processing system
may further be configured to providing the classification to one or
more femto nodes, including the femto node, for providing services
to the device.
Still another aspect relates to a computer program product, which
can have a computer-readable medium including code for receiving
one or more parameters communicated by a device to a femto node.
Further, the computer-readable medium may include code for
assigning a classification to the device related to a frequency of
using the femto node based in part on the one or more parameters.
Moreover, the computer-readable medium can include code for
providing the classification to one or more femto nodes, including
the femto node, for providing services to the device.
To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or
more aspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described and
particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description
and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative
features of the one or more aspects. These features are indicative,
however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles
of various aspects may be employed, and this description is
intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The disclosed aspects will hereinafter be described in conjunction
with the appended drawings, provided to illustrate and not to limit
the disclosed aspects, wherein like designations denote like
elements.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system that facilitates
communicating with multiple devices in a wireless network.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example system that facilitates
classifying devices for providing varying services or levels of
service thereto.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example wireless communication
system in accordance with various aspects set forth herein.
FIG. 4 is an example graphical representation of a system that
facilitates classifying devices for providing varying services or
levels of service thereto
FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an aspect of an example methodology for
classifying devices and providing service thereto based on the
classification.
FIG. 6 is a conceptual data flow diagram illustrating the data flow
between different modules/means/components in an exemplary
apparatus.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware
implementation for an apparatus employing a processing system.
FIG. 8 is an illustration of an example wireless network
environment that can be employed in conjunction with the various
systems and methods described herein.
FIG. 9 illustrates an example wireless communication system,
configured to support a number of devices, in which the aspects
herein can be implemented.
FIG. 10 is an illustration of an exemplary communication system to
enable deployment of femtocells within a network environment.
FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a coverage map having several
defined tracking areas.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Various aspects are now described with reference to the drawings.
In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous
specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough
understanding of one or more aspects. It may be evident, however,
that such aspect(s) may be practiced without these specific
details.
As described further herein, low power base stations, such as femto
nodes, can classify devices for providing services thereto. For
example, the low power base stations can classify devices as
frequent users, non-frequent users, less frequent users, etc. and
can perform one or more actions based on the classification. In an
example, the one or more actions can include allocating resources
to the devices (e.g., transmission power, frequency/time
communication resources, etc.), specifying available services to
the devices, targeting information to the devices based on the
classification (e.g., advertisements), and/or the like. The low
power base stations can classify the devices based on one or more
parameters related to monitoring idle mode behavior of the devices,
active mode behavior of the devices, handover of the devices,
and/or the like.
A low power base station, as referenced herein, can include a femto
node, a pico node, micro node, home Node B or home evolved Node B
(H(e)NB), relay, and/or other low power base stations, and can be
referred to herein using one of these terms, though use of these
terms is intended to generally encompass low power base stations.
For example, a low power base station transmits at a relatively low
power as compared to a macro base station associated with a
wireless wide area network (WWAN). As such, the coverage area of
the low power base station can be substantially smaller than the
coverage area of a macro base station.
As used in this application, the terms "component," "module,"
"system" and the like are intended to include a computer-related
entity, such as but not limited to hardware, firmware, a
combination of hardware and software, software, or software in
execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to
being, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an
executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By
way of illustration, both an application running on a computing
device and the computing device can be a component. One or more
components can reside within a process and/or thread of execution
and a component may be localized on one computer and/or distributed
between two or more computers. In addition, these components can
execute from various computer readable media having various data
structures stored thereon. The components may communicate by way of
local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal
having one or more data packets, such as data from one component
interacting with another component in a local system, distributed
system, and/or across a network such as the Internet with other
systems by way of the signal.
Furthermore, various aspects are described herein in connection
with a terminal, which can be a wired terminal or a wireless
terminal A terminal can also be called a system, device, subscriber
unit, subscriber station, mobile station, mobile, mobile device,
remote station, remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal,
terminal, communication device, user agent, user device, or user
equipment (UE). A wireless terminal or device may be a cellular
telephone, a satellite phone, a cordless telephone, a Session
Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL)
station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device
having wireless connection capability, a tablet, a computing
device, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem.
Moreover, various aspects are described herein in connection with a
base station. A base station may be utilized for communicating with
wireless terminal(s) and may also be referred to as an access
point, a Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), home Node B (HNB) or home
evolved Node B (HeNB), collectively referred to as H(e)NB, or some
other terminology.
Moreover, the term "or" is intended to mean an inclusive "or"
rather than an exclusive "or." That is, unless specified otherwise,
or clear from the context, the phrase "X employs A or B" is
intended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That
is, the phrase "X employs A or B" is satisfied by any of the
following instances: X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A
and B. In addition, the articles "a" and "an" as used in this
application and the appended claims should generally be construed
to mean "one or more" unless specified otherwise or clear from the
context to be directed to a singular form.
The techniques described herein may be used for various wireless
communication systems such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA,
WiFi carrier sense multiple access (CSMA), and other systems. The
terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably. A CDMA
system may implement a radio technology such as Universal
Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA includes
Wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA) and other variants of CDMA. Further,
cdma2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. A TDMA system
may implement a radio technology such as Global System for Mobile
Communications (GSM). An OFDMA system may implement a radio
technology such as Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband
(UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20,
Flash-OFDM.RTM., etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile
Telecommunication System (UMTS). 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is
a release of UMTS that uses E-UTRA, which employs OFDMA on the
downlink and SC-FDMA on the uplink. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE and GSM
are described in documents from an organization named "3rd
Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP). Additionally, cdma2000 and
UMB are described in documents from an organization named "3rd
Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). Further, such wireless
communication systems may additionally include peer-to-peer (e.g.,
mobile-to-mobile) ad hoc network systems often using unpaired
unlicensed spectrums, 802.xx wireless LAN, BLUETOOTH and any other
short- or long-range, wireless communication techniques.
Various aspects or features will be presented in terms of systems
that may include a number of devices, components, modules, and the
like. It is to be understood and appreciated that the various
systems may include additional devices, components, modules, etc.
and/or may not include all of the devices, components, modules etc.
discussed in connection with the figures. A combination of these
approaches may also be used.
Referring to FIG. 1, an example wireless communication system 100
is illustrated that facilitates providing femto nodes within or
near a coverage area of another node. System 100 comprises a macro
node 102; though shown and described as a macro node, it is to be
appreciated that the functions described herein can be similarly
applied where macro node 102 is a femto node, pico node, or other
low power base station node, in one example. System 100 also
includes a femto node 104, which can be substantially any type of
low power base station or at least a portion thereof. The nodes 102
and 104 provide respective coverage areas 108 and 110. System 100
also includes a plurality of devices 114, 116, 118, 120, 122, and
124 that communicate with the nodes 102 or 104 to receive wireless
network access.
As described, the femto node 104 can communicate with the wireless
network (not shown) over a broadband connection. In addition, femto
node 104 can communicate with macro node 102 over a backhaul
connection. For example, the backhaul connection can be a
connection managed through the core wireless network accessible
over the broadband connection at the femto node 104 and/or over a
connection through a radio network controller (RNC) that
communicates with macro node 102. For example, upon initialization,
the femto node 104 can also communicate with another femto node
(not shown) to form a grouping (e.g., an ad-hoc network). This
allows the femto nodes 104 and/or 106 to communicate to determine
parameters related to serving the various devices connected thereto
(e.g., resource allocations, interference management, and/or the
like), in one example. Moreover, femto node 104 can automatically
configure itself to operate in the wireless network (e.g., set
transmit power, network identifiers, pilot signal resources, and/or
the like based on similar information received over a backhaul
connection, over-the-air, or otherwise sensed from surrounding
nodes). In this example, the femto node 104 can behave as
plug-and-play devices requiring little user interaction to be
provisioned on the wireless network.
In one example, femto node 104 can operate in an open or hybrid
access mode--along with other femto nodes (not shown) in the macro
node 102 coverage area 108--to offload devices from macro node 102.
In this example, allowing the femto nodes to specify communication
parameters to define a coverage area based on measured capabilities
of other nodes provides a self-configuration ability from which the
above scenario can benefit. In this regard, devices offloaded from
macro node 102 can be directed to femto nodes that provide the best
or at least reasonable communication capabilities for the device.
In some examples, however, it is to be appreciated that femto nodes
operating in a hybrid access mode can prefer member devices to
non-member devices. In either case, the additional aspects
described herein allow for further preference to be given to
devices that frequently use the femto node 104.
In accordance with aspects described herein, femto node 104 can
classify devices communicating therewith to provide different
services or service levels thereto. For example, device 124 can
frequently communicate with femto node 104. In an example, device
124 can be within coverage area 110 of femto node 104 for an
extended period of time, which may result from the femto node 104
being owned by a user related to device 124. In any case, femto
node 104 can classify device 124 as a frequency user. Conversely,
device 122 can communicate mostly with macro node 102, but can move
within and outside of coverage area 110 one or more times
throughout a period of time (e.g., and can be at least temporarily
offloaded to the femto node 104 at some point). Femto node 104 can
classify this device 122 as a less frequent or non-frequent user.
Based on the classification, femto node 104 can provide differing
services or levels of service to the devices 122 and 124 (e.g.,
allow device 124 to utilize a higher transmit power, grant more
resources to device 124, present targeted advertisements to device
124--or device 122 to, for instance, collect revenue in exchange
for providing service to device 122--and/or the like). Femto node
104, for example, can classify the devices 122 and 124 based on
monitoring idle mode communications, active mode communications, or
handover information related to the devices 122 and 124.
FIG. 2 illustrates an example system 200 for classifying devices to
provide services thereto. System 200 comprises a femto node 202
that can provide wireless network access to one or more devices,
such a device 204, which can be similar to device 122 or 124. Thus,
for example, femto node 202 can be similar to femto node 104. In
this example, femto node 202 can communicate with other femto nodes
or macro nodes over a backhaul or optionally through a management
server or gateway (e.g., H(e)NB management server (HMS) or H(e)NB
gateway (HGW)) to manage parameters related to providing network
access to the devices.
Femto node 202 can include a device monitoring component 210 for
monitoring one or more parameters related to a device, a device
classifying component 212 for assigning a classification to the
device based on the one or more parameters, and a device
configuring component 214 for configuring one or more services or
service levels provided to the device based on the
classification.
According to an example, device 204 can communicate with femto node
202 to receive wireless network access. Device classifying
component 212 can assign a classification 216 to the device as a
frequent, less frequent, or non-frequent user based on one or more
parameters of the device 204 observed by device monitoring
component 210. This can include comparing the one or more
parameters to one or more thresholds, parameters of other devices
communicating with femto node 202, and/or the like. Additional
levels of classification are possible as well based on comparing
monitored parameters to one or more thresholds. Device classifying
component 212 can maintain a list of determined device
classifications 216. Based on the determined device classification,
device configuring component 214 can determine a configuration of
one or more services for providing to the device 204 (e.g., an
allowed transmit power, an allowed time/frequency resource
assignment, an allowed set of services, whether to provide
advertisements to the device 204, a set of advertisements for
providing to the device 204, and/or the like).
For example, device monitoring component 210 can monitor various
aspects of the device 204, such as idle mode signaling, active mode
signaling, handover signaling, and/or the like. In an example,
device monitoring component 210 can monitor location area updates
(LAU), routing area updates (RAU), or similar paging area updates
from the device 204. This can be based on requesting the updates
upon device 204 registration. Device classifying component 212 can
classify device 204 based on LAU/RAU received from device 204. For
example, if device 204 reports LAU/RAU a threshold number of times
over a specified time period (e.g., in relation to a requested or
expected number of LAU, RAU, etc.), device classifying component
212 can classify device 204 as a frequent user of femto node 202.
In another example, device classifying component 212 can determine
classification based on a time between sequential LAU/RAU from the
device 204, where a time between that achieves a threshold can
indicate the device 204 is not as frequent of a user.
In other examples, device monitoring component 210 can page devices
via an identifier related thereto (e.g., an international mobile
subscriber identity (IMSI), temporary IMSI (TIMSI), etc.) to
determine whether the devices, such as device 204, respond. Device
classifying component 212 can classify device 204 based in part on
whether a response is received to the page. In one example, this
can include determining whether a threshold number of responses are
received for a number of pages, etc. Moreover, in an example,
device monitoring component 210 can determine when device 204
registers with femto node 202 and when device 204 performs handout
(e.g., in cell paging channel (CELL_PCH), which can include
detecting a CELL_UPDATE message from device 204, or other
reselection mode), and device classifying component 212 can use a
difference in time between the registration and handout, the number
of handovers over a given time period, etc., to classify device 204
frequency of use. In another example, device monitoring component
210 can change a LAC, RAC, etc. and page device 204 indicating the
change (e.g., in system information block (SIB), master information
block (MIB), etc.). Thus, device monitoring component 210 can
determine whether the device 204 responds with a registration
request. Device classifying component 212 can use device 204
responses, similarly as described above, to determine a
classification for the device 204 as a frequent user, a less
frequent user, a non-frequent user, etc.
In another example, device monitoring component 210 can monitor
active mode communications of device 204. In an example, device
monitoring component 210 can send measurement control messages
(MCM) to device 204 to determine whether the device 204 complicity
returns measurement reports to femto node 202 in accordance with
the MCM. For example, the MCM can specify a time interval for
sending the measurement reports. Whether the device 204 responds
with one or more measurement reports, a frequency of responses over
time, an amount of time between sequential reports, and/or the like
can be used by device classifying component 212 to determine a
classification for device 204. For example, the more device 204
provides measurement reports to femto node 202 at opportunities
defined in the MCM, the device classifying component 212 can
classify device 204 as a more frequent user.
In other examples, device monitoring component 210 can monitor
frequency of call initiation and termination of device 204 on the
femto node 202, duration of calls of device 204 at femto node 202,
a distribution of frequency of inter-call initiation times by
device 204 at femto node 202 (e.g. a number of calls initiated by
device 204 on femto node 202 over a period of time), device 204
arrival at and/or departure from femto node 202 through connected
or active mode handovers (e.g., and/or a time difference between
arrival and/or departure to compute a time on the femto node 202 as
described), applications/services used or accessed by device 204,
and/or the like. Device classifying component 212 can determine a
classification for device 204 based on measurements of the
foregoing metrics. For example, the more frequent call initiation,
the longer duration of calls, the higher frequency of inter-call
initiation time, the less handovers or more time spent on the femto
node, etc., the more frequent of a user that device classifying
component 212 can classify device 204.
In another example, device monitoring component 210 can track a
pathloss to device 204 over time and can store the pathloss
measurements with the device 204 IMSI. In this example, device
classifying component 212 can classify the device 204 based on the
pathloss measurements (e.g., the more frequent the pathloss
measurements achieve a threshold over time, the more frequent of a
user the device 204 is classified). In another example, device
monitoring component 210 can rank the IMSIs according to pathloss
measurements and can classify device 204 based on ranking against
other devices.
In yet another example, device monitoring component 210 can obtain
handover information related to the device 204, such as when device
is handed over to/from femto node 202, UE History Information in
UMTS/LTE, etc. For example, device monitoring component 210 can
determine when device 204 is handed over from femto node 202 to
another node as compared to a time of registration or handover of
the device 204 to femto node 202 to determine a duration on femto
node 202. Device classifying component 212 can classify device 204
based on these parameters. In another example, device monitoring
component 210 can obtain handover information elements (IE) based
on receiving handover of device 204. Such IEs can include a list of
a last n nodes to which device 204 connected along with a connected
time duration, where n is a positive integer (e.g., or a list of
nodes over a period of time, etc.). Device classifying component
212 can classify the device 204 based on such information. For
example, where device classifying component 212 determines device
204 was connected to femto node 202 for over a threshold period of
time, device classifying component 212 can classify device 204 as a
frequent user. Where device classifying component 212 determines
device 204 was connected to nodes near to femto node 202 (e.g., in
a respective macro node coverage area) for a threshold period of
time and connected to femto node 202 for less than a threshold
period of time, and thus is a frequent user in the neighborhood,
device classifying component 212 can classify device 204 as a less
frequent user (e.g., but not a non-frequent user), etc. to provide
varying services or levels of service for different
classifications.
Moreover, though functions are shown and described at a femto node
202, it is to be appreciated that at least some functions can be
similarly performed, and related components can be employed, by a
centralized entity communicating with a plurality of femto nodes.
In one example, the centralized entity can receive monitored
information from device monitoring component 210 at the plurality
of femto nodes, and the centralized entity can include a device
classifying component 212 that accordingly classifies devices
and/or provides device classifications 216 to the plurality of
femto nodes. In another example, the centralized entity can also
monitor devices (and thus can include device monitoring component
210).
FIG. 3 shows an example wireless communication system 300. The
wireless communication system 300 depicts one base station 310,
which can include a femto node, and one mobile device 350 for sake
of brevity. However, it is to be appreciated that system 300 can
include more than one base station and/or more than one mobile
device, wherein additional base stations and/or mobile devices can
be substantially similar or different from example base station 310
and mobile device 350 described below. In addition, it is to be
appreciated that base station 310 and/or mobile device 350 can
employ the systems (FIGS. 1, 2, 6, and 8) and/or methods (FIG. 5)
described herein to facilitate wireless communication there
between. For example, components or functions of the systems and/or
methods described herein can be part of a memory 332 and/or 372 or
processors 330 and/or 370 described below, and/or can be executed
by processors 330 and/or 370 to perform the disclosed
functions.
At base station 310, traffic data for a number of data streams is
provided from a data source 312 to a transmit (TX) data processor
314. According to an example, each data stream can be transmitted
over a respective antenna. TX data processor 314 formats, codes,
and interleaves the traffic data stream based on a particular
coding scheme selected for that data stream to provide coded
data.
The coded data for each data stream can be multiplexed with pilot
data using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)
techniques. Additionally or alternatively, the pilot symbols can be
frequency division multiplexed (FDM), time division multiplexed
(TDM), or code division multiplexed (CDM). The pilot data is
typically a known data pattern that is processed in a known manner
and can be used at mobile device 350 to estimate channel response.
The multiplexed pilot and coded data for each data stream can be
modulated (e.g., symbol mapped) based on a particular modulation
scheme (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature
phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK),
M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM), etc.) selected for that
data stream to provide modulation symbols. The data rate, coding,
and modulation for each data stream can be determined by
instructions performed or provided by processor 330.
The modulation symbols for the data streams can be provided to a TX
MIMO processor 320, which can further process the modulation
symbols (e.g., for OFDM). TX MIMO processor 320 then provides
N.sub.T modulation symbol streams to N.sub.T transmitters (TMTR)
322a through 322t. In various embodiments, TX MIMO processor 320
applies beamforming weights to the symbols of the data streams and
to the antenna from which the symbol is being transmitted.
Each transmitter 322 receives and processes a respective symbol
stream to provide one or more analog signals, and further
conditions (e.g., amplifies, filters, and upconverts) the analog
signals to provide a modulated signal suitable for transmission
over the MIMO channel. Further, N.sub.T modulated signals from
transmitters 322a through 322t are transmitted from N.sub.T
antennas 324a through 324t, respectively.
At mobile device 350, the transmitted modulated signals are
received by N.sub.R antennas 352a through 352r and the received
signal from each antenna 352 is provided to a respective receiver
(RCVR) 354a through 354r. Each receiver 354 conditions (e.g.,
filters, amplifies, and downconverts) a respective signal,
digitizes the conditioned signal to provide samples, and further
processes the samples to provide a corresponding "received" symbol
stream.
An RX data processor 360 can receive and process the N.sub.R
received symbol streams from N.sub.R receivers 354 based on a
particular receiver processing technique to provide N.sub.T
"detected" symbol streams. RX data processor 360 can demodulate,
deinterleave, and decode each detected symbol stream to recover the
traffic data for the data stream. The processing by RX data
processor 360 is complementary to that performed by TX MIMO
processor 320 and TX data processor 314 at base station 310.
The reverse link message can comprise various types of information
regarding the communication link and/or the received data stream.
The reverse link message can be processed by a TX data processor
338, which also receives traffic data for a number of data streams
from a data source 336, modulated by a modulator 380, conditioned
by transmitters 354a through 354r, and transmitted back to base
station 310.
At base station 310, the modulated signals from mobile device 350
are received by antennas 324, conditioned by receivers 322,
demodulated by a demodulator 340, and processed by a RX data
processor 342 to extract the reverse link message transmitted by
mobile device 350. Further, processor 330 can process the extracted
message to determine which precoding matrix to use for determining
the beamforming weights.
Processors 330 and 370 can direct (e.g., control, coordinate,
manage, etc.) operation at base station 310 and mobile device 350,
respectively. Respective processors 330 and 370 can be associated
with memory 332 and 372 that store program codes and data.
Processors 330 and 370 can also perform functionalities described
herein to support classifying devices and providing varying levels
of service thereto.
Referring to FIG. 4, a graphical representation 400 of an example
system for classifying devices for providing service thereto is
illustrated.
The graphical representation 400 depicts pathloss 404 measurements
over time 402 for an example system with a femto node and multiple
devices. In such an example system, a femto node may analyze the
pathloss 404 measurements to assist in distinguishing between
neighbor devices 408 and passer-by devices 406. In an aspect, femto
node may monitor the pathloss 404 measurements for patterns/trends
over time 402. For example, a passer-by device 406 may have
pathloss 404 measurements that generate a sharp peak/trough pattern
that lasts a short time duration. In another example, a neighbor
device 408 may have pathloss 404 measurements that have a lesser
gradient and/or are substantially constant for a duration 410. As
such, a node (e.g., a femto cell) may distinguish between neighbor
devices 408 and passer-by device 406 based on analysis of their
respective pathloss 404 characteristics over time 402.
Referring to FIG. 5, an example methodology relating to classifying
devices for providing services thereto is illustrated. While, for
purposes of simplicity of explanation, methodologies are shown and
described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and
appreciated that the methodologies are not limited by the order of
acts, as some acts may, in accordance with one or more embodiments,
occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other acts from
that shown and described herein. For example, it is to be
appreciated that a methodology could alternatively be represented
as a series of interrelated states or events, such as in a state
diagram. Moreover, not all illustrated acts may be required to
implement a methodology in accordance with one or more
embodiments.
Turning to FIG. 5, an example methodology 500 is displayed that
facilitates classifying devices for providing classification-based
services.
At 502, one or more parameters communicated by a device to a femto
node can be monitored. As described, the one or more parameters can
relate to idle-mode or active-mode communications of the device,
handover of the device, and/or the like. For example, the
parameters can relate to LAU/RAU reported by a device (e.g., based
on a request from the femto node), responses to transmitted paging
messages, handout messages over a paging channel, responses to
changing LAC/RAC of the femto node, measurement reports received
based on a MCM, call related parameters, ranking of IMSIs according
to pathloss, applications/services used by the device, UE handover
IEs, and/or the like, as described.
At 504, a classification can be assigned to the device related to a
frequency of using the femto node based in part on the one or more
parameters. For example, the classification can relate to a
frequent user, non-frequent user, less frequent user, or other
varying levels of frequency. Thus, the classification can be
assigned based on comparing the one or more parameters to a
threshold, to similar parameters of other devices communicating
with the femto node, and/or the like, as described. In one example,
this can be performed by a centralized entity as well based on
receiving parameters that are monitored at 502 from one or more
femto nodes.
At 506, based on the classification, services can be provided to
the device. The services can relate to receiving transmit power or
resource allocation, receiving indications of available services,
receiving certain advertisements, and/or the like. Thus, where the
device is classified as a frequent user, the device can receive
additional transmit power, resource allocation, services, etc. than
a device classified as a less frequent user. In another example,
where step 504 is performed at a centralized entity, the
classification can be provided to a femto node for providing the
services to the device based on the classification.
It will be appreciated that, in accordance with one or more aspects
described herein, inferences can be made regarding determining a
classification based on monitored parameters, comparing the
monitored parameters to one or more thresholds or parameters of
another device, determining services to provide to different
classification levels, and/or the like, as described. As used
herein, the term to "infer" or "inference" refers generally to the
process of reasoning about or inferring states of the system,
environment, and/or user from a set of observations as captured via
events and/or data. Inference can be employed to identify a
specific context or action, or can generate a probability
distribution over states, for example. The inference can be
probabilistic--that is, the computation of a probability
distribution over states of interest based on a consideration of
data and events. Inference can also refer to techniques employed
for composing higher-level events from a set of events and/or data.
Such inference results in the construction of new events or actions
from a set of observed events and/or stored event data, whether or
not the events are correlated in close temporal proximity, and
whether the events and data come from one or several event and data
sources.
FIG. 6 is a conceptual data flow diagram 600 illustrating the data
flow between different modules/means/components in an exemplary
apparatus 602. The apparatus may be a node (e.g., femto node, macro
node, etc.). The apparatus includes a reception module 604, a
device classification assignment module 606, a configuration
modification module 608, a service providing module 610, and a
transmission module 612.
In an operational aspect, reception module 604 may receive one or
more parameters 620 communicated by various devices 122, 124. In an
aspect, the reception may monitor the various devices 122, 124 to
receive the one or more parameters 620. In another aspect, the
apparatus 602 may receive the one or more parameters 620 from
another device (e.g., femto node, macro node, etc.) that has
monitored the various devices 122, 124. In an aspect, the
parameters may relate to idle-mode communications, active-mode
communications, or handover of the device. In another aspect, the
parameters may include frequency of call initiation or termination
at the femto node, a duration of one or more calls at the femto
node, a frequency of inter-call initiation times at the femto node,
etc. In another aspect, the parameters 620 may be related to calls
of the device at the femto node. In another aspect, the parameters
620 may be related handover of the device to the femto node
relative to handover of the device from the femto node. In another
aspect, the parameters 620 may be related to applications or
services of the femto node used by the device. In another aspect,
the parameters 620 may be related to handover information elements
regarding the device received from a node from which the device is
handed over to the femto node. Further, the reception module 604
may monitor location area update, routing area update messages,
etc., from the device 122, 124. In another aspect, apparatus 602
may transmit, via transmission module 612, paging messages 622 to
the device 122, 124, to prompt the device 122, 124 to respond to
the paging messages. The paging responses are monitored by
reception module 604. In another aspect, apparatus 602 may
transmit, via transmission module 612, measurement control messages
624 to the device 122, 124, to prompt the device 122, 124 to send a
measurement report. At least the number of measurement control
messages received may be monitored by reception module 604. In an
aspect, reception module 604 may monitor one or more handovers of
the device to another node. In another aspect, reception module 604
may perform one or more pathloss measurements from the femto node
to the device 122, 124, and may monitor the parameters over
time.
In an aspect, device classification assignment module 606 may
receive the monitored parameters 620 and may classify the devices
122, 124 based on the parameters 620. In an aspect, device
classification assignment module 606 may classify the devices 122,
124 based at least in part on one or more handovers relative to one
or more registration requests from the device 122, 124. In another
aspect, device classification assignment module 606 may analyze the
devices 122, 124 by ranking them based on pathloss measurements and
subsequently classify the devices 122, 124 based at least in part
the ranking of the device among the plurality of devices. In
another aspect, the device classification assignment module 606 may
classify the devices 122, 124 based at least in part on comparing
the one or more parameters to one or more thresholds. In another
aspect, the device classification assignment module 606 may
classify the devices 122, 124 based at least in part on comparing
the one or more parameters to similar parameters monitored of other
devices communicating with the femto node.
In an aspect, configuration modification module 608 may receive the
device classification information 622 and modify a location area
code or routing area code of the femto node in response to the
classification information 622. In such an aspect, the apparatus
may use reception module 604 to monitor devices parameters based on
the modified configurations 624.
Service providing module 610 may provide one or more services 628
to the various device 122, 124 via transmission module 612. In an
aspect, service providing module 610 may determine a transmission
power or time/frequency resource allocation for the device based on
the classification information 622 and/or any configuration
modification information 624. In another aspect, service providing
module 610 may determine a set of services to provide to the device
based on the classification information 622 and/or any
configuration modification information 624. In another aspect,
service providing module 610 may determine one or more
advertisements to provide to the device based on the classification
information 622 and/or any configuration modification information
624.
The apparatus may include additional modules that perform each of
the steps of the algorithm in the aforementioned flow chart of FIG.
5. As such, each block in the aforementioned flow chart of FIG. 5
may be performed by a module and the apparatus may include one or
more of those modules. The modules may be one or more hardware
components specifically configured to carry out the stated
processes/algorithm, implemented by a processor configured to
perform the stated processes/algorithm, stored within a
computer-readable medium for implementation by a processor, or some
combination thereof.
FIG. 7 is a diagram 700 illustrating an example of a hardware
implementation for an apparatus 602' employing a processing system
714. The processing system 714 may be implemented with a bus
architecture, represented generally by the bus 724. The bus 724 may
include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges depending
on the specific application of the processing system 714 and the
overall design constraints. The bus 724 links together various
circuits including one or more processors and/or hardware modules,
represented by the processor 704, the modules 604, 606, 608, 610,
612, and the computer-readable medium 706. The bus 724 may also
link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals,
voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well
known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any
further.
The processing system 714 may be coupled to a transceiver 710. The
transceiver 710 is coupled to one or more antennas 720. The
transceiver 710 provides a means for communicating with various
other apparatus over a transmission medium. The processing system
714 includes a processor 704 coupled to a computer-readable medium
706. The processor 704 is responsible for general processing,
including the execution of software stored on the computer-readable
medium 706. The software, when executed by the processor 704,
causes the processing system 714 to perform the various functions
described supra for any particular apparatus. The computer-readable
medium 706 may also be used for storing data that is manipulated by
the processor 704 when executing software. The processing system
further includes at least one of the modules 604, 606, 608, 610,
and 612. The modules may be software modules running in the
processor 704, resident/stored in the computer-readable medium 706,
one or more hardware modules coupled to the processor 704, or some
combination thereof. The processing system 714 may be a component
of the base station 310 and may include the memory 332 and/or at
least one of the TX data processor 314, the RX data processor 342,
and the controller/processor 330.
In one configuration, the apparatus 602/602' for wireless
communication includes means for monitoring one or more parameters
communicated by a device to a femto node, means for assigning a
classification to the device related to a frequency of using the
femto node based in part on the one or more parameters, and means
for providing services to the device based on the classification.
In an aspect, the apparatus 602/602' means for monitoring may be
further configured monitor location area update or routing area
update messages from the device. In an aspect, the apparatus
602/602' means for monitoring may be further configured monitor
responses to paging messages. In an aspect, the apparatus 602/602'
means for monitoring may be further configured monitor one or more
handovers of the device to another node. In an aspect, the
apparatus 602/602' means for monitoring may be further configured
monitor a number of measurement reports received from the device.
In an aspect, the apparatus 602/602' means for monitoring may be
further configured monitor parameters related to calls of the
device at the femto node. In an aspect, the apparatus 602/602'
means for monitoring may be further configured monitor handover of
the device to the femto node relative to handover of the device
from the femto node. In an aspect, the apparatus 602/602' means for
monitoring may be further configured monitor applications or
services of the femto node used by the device. In an aspect, the
apparatus 602/602' means for monitoring may be further configured
monitor handover information elements regarding the device received
from a node from which the device is handed over to the femto node.
In an aspect, the apparatus 602/602' means for monitoring may be
further configured monitor one or more pathloss measurements over
time.
In another aspect, the apparatus 602/602' further includes means
for transmitting paging messages to the device. In another aspect,
the means for transmitting may be further configured to transmit a
measurement control message to the device requesting periodic
measurement reports. In another aspect, the apparatus 602/602'
means for assigning are further configured to assign the
classification is based in part on the one or more handovers
relative to one or more registration requests from the device. In
another aspect, the apparatus 602/602' further includes means for
modifying a location area code or routing area code of the femto
node. In such an aspect, the means for monitoring may be configured
to responses from the device based on the modifications. In another
aspect, the apparatus 602/602' further includes means for
performing one or more pathloss measurements from the femto node to
the device. In another aspect, the apparatus 602/602' further
includes means for ranking the device among a plurality of devices
based on the one or more pathloss measurements and additional
pathloss measurements of the plurality of devices. In such an
aspect, the means for assigning may be further configured to assign
the classification based in part on the ranking of the device among
the plurality of devices. In another aspect, the apparatus 602/602'
means for assigning may further be configured to the classification
based in part on comparing the one or more parameters to one or
more thresholds. In another aspect, the apparatus 602/602' means
for assigning may further be configured to the classification based
on comparing the one or more parameters to similar parameters
monitored of other devices communicating with the femto node. In an
aspect, the apparatus 602/602' means for providing may further be
configured to determine a transmission power or time/frequency
resource allocation for the device based on the classification. In
an aspect, the apparatus 602/602' means for providing may further
be configured to determine a set of services to provide to the
device based on the classification. In an aspect, the apparatus
602/602' means for providing may further be configured to determine
one or more advertisements to provide to the device based on the
classification.
The aforementioned means may be one or more of the aforementioned
modules of the apparatus 602 and/or the processing system 714 of
the apparatus 602' configured to perform the functions recited by
the aforementioned means. As described supra, the processing system
714 may include the TX data processor 314, the RX data processor
342, and the controller/processor 330. As such, in one
configuration, the aforementioned means may be the TX data
processor 314, the RX data processor 342, and the
controller/processor 330 configured to perform the functions
recited by the aforementioned means.
Referring now to FIG. 8, a wireless communication system 800 is
illustrated in accordance with various embodiments presented
herein. System 800 comprises a base station 802 that can include
multiple antenna groups. For example, one antenna group can include
antennas 804 and 806, another group can comprise antennas 808 and
810, and an additional group can include antennas 812 and 814. Two
antennas are illustrated for each antenna group; however, more or
fewer antennas can be utilized for each group. Base station 802 can
additionally include a transmitter chain and a receiver chain, each
of which can in turn comprise a plurality of components associated
with signal transmission and reception (e.g., processors,
modulators, multiplexers, demodulators, demultiplexers, antennas,
etc.), as is appreciated.
Base station 802 can communicate with one or more mobile devices
such as mobile device 816 and mobile device 822; however, it is to
be appreciated that base station 802 can communicate with
substantially any number of mobile devices similar to mobile
devices 816 and 822. Mobile devices 816 and 822 can be, for
example, cellular phones, smart phones, laptops, handheld
communication devices, handheld computing devices, satellite
radios, global positioning systems, PDAs, and/or any other suitable
device for communicating over wireless communication system 800. As
depicted, mobile device 816 is in communication with antennas 812
and 814, where antennas 812 and 814 transmit information to mobile
device 816 over a forward link 818 and receive information from
mobile device 816 over a reverse link 820. Moreover, mobile device
822 is in communication with antennas 804 and 806, where antennas
804 and 806 transmit information to mobile device 822 over a
forward link 824 and receive information from mobile device 822
over a reverse link 826. In a frequency division duplex (FDD)
system, forward link 818 can utilize a different frequency band
than that used by reverse link 820, and forward link 824 can employ
a different frequency band than that employed by reverse link 826,
for example. Further, in a time division duplex (TDD) system,
forward link 818 and reverse link 820 can utilize a common
frequency band and forward link 824 and reverse link 826 can
utilize a common frequency band.
Each group of antennas and/or the area in which they are designated
to communicate can be referred to as a sector of base station 802.
For example, antenna groups can be designed to communicate to
mobile devices in a sector of the areas covered by base station
802. In communication over forward links 818 and 824, the
transmitting antennas of base station 802 can utilize beamforming
to improve signal-to-noise ratio of forward links 818 and 824 for
mobile devices 816 and 822. Also, while base station 802 utilizes
beamforming to transmit to mobile devices 816 and 822 scattered
randomly through an associated coverage, mobile devices in
neighboring cells can be subject to less interference as compared
to a base station transmitting through a single antenna to all its
mobile devices. Moreover, mobile devices 816 and 822 can
communicate directly with one another using a peer-to-peer or ad
hoc technology as depicted. According to an example, system 800 can
be a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication
system.
FIG. 9 illustrates a wireless communication system 900, configured
to support a number of users, in which the teachings herein may be
implemented. The system 900 provides communication for multiple
cells 902, such as, for example, macro cells 902A-902G, with each
cell being serviced by a corresponding access node 904 (e.g.,
access nodes 904A-904G). As shown in FIG. 9, access terminals 906
(e.g., access terminals 906A-906L) can be dispersed at various
locations throughout the system over time. Each access terminal 906
can communicate with one or more access nodes 904 on a forward link
(FL) and/or a reverse link (RL) at a given moment, depending upon
whether the access terminal 906 is active and whether it is in soft
handoff, for example. The wireless communication system 900 can
provide service over a large geographic region.
FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary communication system 1000 where
one or more femto nodes are deployed within a network environment.
Specifically, the system 1000 includes multiple femto nodes 1010A
and 1010B (e.g., femtocell nodes or H(e)NB) installed in a
relatively small scale network environment (e.g., in one or more
user residences 1030). Each femto node 1010 can be coupled to a
wide area network 1040 (e.g., the Internet) and a mobile operator
core network 1050 via a digital subscriber line (DSL) router, a
cable modem, a wireless link, or other connectivity means (not
shown). As will be discussed below, each femto node 1010 can be
configured to serve associated access terminals 1020 (e.g., access
terminal 1020A) and, optionally, alien access terminals 1020 (e.g.,
access terminal 1020B). In other words, access to femto nodes 1010
can be restricted such that a given access terminal 1020 can be
served by a set of designated (e.g., home) femto node(s) 1010 but
may not be served by any non-designated femto nodes 1010 (e.g., a
neighbor's femto node).
FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a coverage map 1100 where several
tracking areas 1102 (or routing areas or location areas) are
defined, each of which includes several macro coverage areas 1104.
Here, areas of coverage associated with tracking areas 1102A,
1102B, and 1102C are delineated by the wide lines and the macro
coverage areas 1104 are represented by the hexagons. The tracking
areas 1102 also include femto coverage areas 1106. In this example,
each of the femto coverage areas 1106 (e.g., femto coverage area
1106C) is depicted within a macro coverage area 1104 (e.g., macro
coverage area 1104B). It should be appreciated, however, that a
femto coverage area 1106 may not lie entirely within a macro
coverage area 1104. In practice, a large number of femto coverage
areas 1106 can be defined with a given tracking area 1102 or macro
coverage area 1104. Also, one or more pico coverage areas (not
shown) can be defined within a given tracking area 1102 or macro
coverage area 1104.
Referring again to FIG. 10, the owner of a femto node 1010 can
subscribe to mobile service, such as, for example, 3G mobile
service, offered through the mobile operator core network 1050. In
another example, the femto node 1010 can be operated by the mobile
operator core network 1050 to expand coverage of the wireless
network. In addition, an access terminal 1020 can be capable of
operating both in macro environments and in smaller scale (e.g.,
residential) network environments. Thus, for example, depending on
the current location of the access terminal 1020, the access
terminal 1020 can be served by a macro cell access node 1060 or by
any one of a set of femto nodes 1010 (e.g., the femto nodes 1010A
and 1010B that reside within a corresponding user residence 1030).
For example, when a subscriber is outside his home, he is served by
a standard macro cell access node (e.g., node 1060) and when the
subscriber is at home, he is served by a femto node (e.g., node
1010A). Here, it should be appreciated that a femto node 1010 can
be backward compatible with existing access terminals 1020.
A femto node 1010 can be deployed on a single frequency or, in the
alternative, on multiple frequencies. Depending on the particular
configuration, the single frequency or one or more of the multiple
frequencies can overlap with one or more frequencies used by a
macro cell access node (e.g., node 1060). In some aspects, an
access terminal 1020 can be configured to connect to a preferred
femto node (e.g., the home femto node of the access terminal 1020)
whenever such connectivity is possible. For example, whenever the
access terminal 1020 is within the user's residence 1030, it can
communicate with the home femto node 1010.
In some aspects, if the access terminal 1020 operates within the
mobile operator core network 1050 but is not residing on its most
preferred network (e.g., as defined in a preferred roaming list),
the access terminal 1020 can continue to search for the most
preferred network (e.g., femto node 1010) using a Better System
Reselection (BSR), which can involve a periodic scanning of
available systems to determine whether better systems are currently
available, and subsequent efforts to associate with such preferred
systems. Using an acquisition table entry (e.g., in a preferred
roaming list), in one example, the access terminal 1020 can limit
the search for specific band and channel. For example, the search
for the most preferred system can be repeated periodically. Upon
discovery of a preferred femto node, such as femto node 1010, the
access terminal 1020 selects the femto node 1010 for camping within
its coverage area.
A femto node can be restricted in some aspects. For example, a
given femto node can only provide certain services to certain
access terminals. In deployments with so-called restricted (or
closed) association, a given access terminal can only be served by
the macro cell mobile network and a defined set of femto nodes
(e.g., the femto nodes 1010 that reside within the corresponding
user residence 1030). In some implementations, a femto node can be
restricted to not provide, for at least one access terminal, at
least one of: signaling, data access, registration, paging, or
service.
In some aspects, a restricted femto node (which can also be
referred to as a Closed Subscriber Group H(e)NB) is one that
provides service to a restricted provisioned set of access
terminals. This set can be temporarily or permanently extended as
necessary. In some aspects, a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG) can be
defined as the set of access nodes (e.g., femto nodes) that share a
common access control list of access terminals. A channel on which
all femto nodes (or all restricted femto nodes) in a region operate
can be referred to as a femto channel.
Various relationships can thus exist between a given femto node and
a given access terminal. For example, from the perspective of an
access terminal, an open femto node can refer to a femto node with
no restricted association. A restricted femto node can refer to a
femto node that is restricted in some manner (e.g., restricted for
association and/or registration). A home femto node can refer to a
femto node on which the access terminal is authorized to access and
operate on. A guest femto node can refer to a femto node on which
an access terminal is temporarily authorized to access or operate
on. An alien femto node can refer to a femto node on which the
access terminal is not authorized to access or operate on, except
for perhaps emergency situations (e.g., 911 calls).
From a restricted femto node perspective, a home access terminal
can refer to an access terminal that is authorized to access the
restricted femto node. A guest access terminal can refer to an
access terminal with temporary access to the restricted femto node.
An alien access terminal can refer to an access terminal that does
not have permission to access the restricted femto node, except for
perhaps emergency situations, for example, 911 calls (e.g., an
access terminal that does not have the credentials or permission to
register with the restricted femto node).
For convenience, the disclosure herein describes various
functionality in the context of a femto node. It should be
appreciated, however, that a pico node can provide the same or
similar functionality as a femto node, but for a larger coverage
area. For example, a pico node can be restricted, a home pico node
can be defined for a given access terminal, and so on.
A wireless multiple-access communication system can simultaneously
support communication for multiple wireless access terminals. As
mentioned above, each terminal can communicate with one or more
base stations via transmissions on the forward and reverse links.
The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link
from the base stations to the terminals, and the reverse link (or
uplink) refers to the communication link from the terminals to the
base stations. This communication link can be established via a
single-in-single-out system, a MIMO system, or some other type of
system.
The various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules,
components, and circuits described in connection with the
embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a
general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an
application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field
programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device,
discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or
any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described
herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but,
in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional
processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A
processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing
devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a
plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in
conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.
Additionally, at least one processor may comprise one or more
modules operable to perform one or more of the steps and/or actions
described above. An exemplary storage medium may be coupled to the
processor, such that the processor can read information from, and
write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the
storage medium may be integral to the processor. Further, in some
aspects, the processor and the storage medium may reside in an
ASIC. Additionally, the ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In the
alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as
discrete components in a user terminal
In one or more aspects, the functions, methods, or algorithms
described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or
any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions
may be stored or transmitted as one or more instructions or code on
a computer-readable medium, which may be incorporated into a
computer program product. Computer-readable media includes both
computer storage media and communication media including any medium
that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to
another. A storage medium may be any available media that can be
accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such
computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or
other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic
storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or
store desired program code in the form of instructions or data
structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also,
substantially any connection may be termed a computer-readable
medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website,
server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic
cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless
technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the
coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless
technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in
the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes
compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc
(DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce
data magnetically, while discs usually reproduce data optically
with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included
within the scope of computer-readable media.
While the foregoing disclosure discusses illustrative aspects
and/or embodiments, it should be noted that various changes and
modifications could be made herein without departing from the scope
of the described aspects and/or embodiments as defined by the
appended claims. Furthermore, although elements of the described
aspects and/or embodiments may be described or claimed in the
singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the
singular is explicitly stated. Additionally, all or a portion of
any aspect and/or embodiment may be utilized with all or a portion
of any other aspect and/or embodiment, unless stated otherwise.
* * * * *